That Train Story
by jeshika.23
Summary: Can one train trip from Hogsmeade to King’s Cross change your life? Voldemort is dead, Harry’s a jerk, Bella has never before laid eyes on Edward and Hermione gets a little green-eyed when Ron meets Alice. Three chapters. Most canon pairs.
1. Harry

_NOTE: __This is a Harry Potter/Twilight fan fiction. Harry and Bella are a couple and it's the last day of their 6__th__ year at Hogwarts. Voldemort actually died when he tried to kill Harry, and Harry has let the fame get to his head. There are no vampires – only witches and wizards. The start is set in Hogsmeade station. Enjoy :)_

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything from __Twilight or Harry Potter, sadly. But I do own the plot and the few random characters I chucked into chapter 3!_

That Train Story

"Bella!" Hermione squealed as her eyes fell on me. She ran from Ron's side to me and flung her arms around my neck. "Happy birthday!"

"Thanks, Hermione," I replied awkwardly. I smiled at Ron as he shuffled over to us.

"Happy birthday, Bella," Ron muttered. "Have you seen Harry anywhere?" I shook my head and turned to Hermione as Ron walked away, searching for his mate.

"So, are you excited about the summer holidays?" Hermione asked as Ginny walked up behind me and wished me a happy birthday.

"Yes! I'm finally of age. I can do magic now without Charlie yelling at me. Do you guys wanna come over?"

"Yeah, sure. I can't wait!" Ginny said excitedly. "My house is going to be packed. Charlie and Bill are staying, as well as Fred and George, all holidays."

"Awesome." Hermione picked up Crookshanks as the Hogsmeade platform guard yelled out that the Hogwarts Express was due in one minute.

"Where's Ron?" Ginny asked, annoyed. "He has our gift for you and I told him to meet me here before the train arrived."

I blushed a deep scarlet. "You shouldn't have got me a present, Ginny. I don't expect anything from you guys."

"Oh, shut up, Bella. I have one for you too. Hold on." Hermione dug deep into her suitcase that was lying at our feet. She pulled out a small package, wrapped in a baby blue tissue paper. "It's just something small because I know how much you hate birthday presents." Hermione rolled her eyes before handing me the package. I ripped the tissue paper off to find myself holding a necklace. The necklace comprised of a pale green, glass heart dangling of a thin black cord. The heart was smooth and felt slightly heavy in my hand. It was very pretty.

"Aww, thank you so much, Hermione. It's gorgeous!"

"No problem," Hermione answered with a grin on her face. "I got it from Venice when we went to Italy during the Easter break. I thought it suited you." Ginny held her hand out for it and I passed it to her. The Hogwarts Express came rushing up past us and slowed down to stop at the end of the station. I lifted my bags while we stepped forward and waited for the line in front of us to go inside. Suddenly, I felt someone rub my back and pull my bags from my shoulder. I smiled at the familiar touch and turned to see Harry leaning over towards me.

"Happy birthday, Bella," he whispered. His lips met mine and my feet moved closer to him while Ginny and Hermione complained about the two of us kissing in public. Harry broke off the kiss and said, "I have a present for you, but you'll have to wait for it."

I smiled at him and stared into his beautiful green eyes. "I love you," I whispered, but he looked away quickly as if he didn't hear me. My smile faded and I swallowed hard, trying to ignore the lump that rose in my throat. Maybe he just didn't hear me. I had been whispering. I did my best to shrug it off as we boarded the train. Hermione and Ginny led the way through the corridor until they found a carriage occupied only by Ron and a girl with short, black hair.

The two of them were deep in conversation and only looked up when Hermione slumped onto the seat by the window. The others slid their bags and into the overhead compartment and I sat down next to Hermione.

"Hey, guys. This is Alice," Ron gestured to the other girl. "Alice, this is Hermione, Bella, Harry and my sister Ginny."

Alice glanced around nervously as Ron introduced us. "Hi," she said. "My family got a transfer from Beauxbatons halfway through the year. We're all in Ravenclaw."

Ron beamed at her. "Alice couldn't get her overly large suitcase onto the train and I had to lift it for her. I invited her to sit with us but that was before I realized that she didn't shut up," he teased Alice playfully. Alice slapped him lightly on the arm. Everyone laughed at her but out of the corner of my eye, I saw Hermione turned to look out the window. I looked at her and saw the jealousy written all over her face. I patted her shoulder and she gave me one short, sad smile before staring out at the platform again.

A few minutes later, the Hogwarts Express started to move and the atmosphere in the carriage changed slightly as everyone started to discuss the summer holidays.

"Ron, do you know if your dad can get tickets to the Quidditch World Cup again?"

"Hmm, maybe... I'll ask. That would be awesome to go see. I would love to watch Franklin play. He's an awesome Chaser." Everyone murmured in agreement.

"He's the highest goal scorer in the competition at the moment."

"Yeah, he's hot, too," I added with a grin. Alice chuckled loudly and Harry pouted.

"What about me?" he asked arrogantly. I laughed in response and teased, "Hmm... I'm not sure, Harry. I mean you're an awesome seeker and all... but you gotta tone up." Harry rolled his eyes rudely and turned back to the group. I frowned. It was just a joke. The conversation went back to planning the summer holidays and I didn't mention it again.

After a while, Ginny left to sit with some fifth years and Hermione followed her. I suspected that she couldn't look at Alice for much longer without pulling her wand out and cursing her. They left the door open as they departed and soon enough we had people sticking their heads in to join the conversation.

It wasn't long before Cho Chang strolled past our compartment.

"Hey, Harry," Cho leant back on the door and slyly stuck her chest out. "Bella, Ron... Oh, Alice, I see you've finally made some friends."

Alice, Ron and I glared at her but Harry was too busy ogling her to notice her nasty comment.

"How are you?" Cho directed her question purposely at Harry and I felt my eyes narrow with hatred.

"Um, good. Yourself?" Harry struggled to keep his tone normal while Cho's voice rose as she became more flirtatious.

"Well, I'm better now," she smiled seductively and I could hear Harry's breathing quicken.

"Oh, were you, um, sick before?"

"No, I was just lonely." My fingers itched for my wand but I didn't let my temper get the better of me.

"You look um, nice today," Harry said, smiling at Cho. I turned to him, anger showing all over my face but he was oblivious to everything except the girl standing at the compartment door.

Cho fluttered her eyelids and softly replied, "Thanks. You're not too bad yourself." She stood up straight and smiled again. "Well it was nice seeing you Harry."

"Yeah, you too. See you soon."

"I hope so," Cho purred. Suddenly, she leant over and kissed Harry lightly on the cheek. "Bye, Harry." She called over her shoulder as she strutted out of the compartment.

Ron and Alice stared at him incredulously while I gritted my teeth.

"What?" Harry asked, excessively innocently.

"Smooth, Harry," Alice muttered as she stood up to leave and beckoned Ron to follow.

"Harry, you're my mate, but that just wasn't cool," said Ron. They both stepped out of the compartment and closed the door behind them, leaving Harry and me alone. I just continued glaring.

"Look, I'm sorry if you got jealous, but-"

"You think I'm jealous?" I asked, my voice raising. "Harry, I'm pissed off because your ex-girlfriend started flirting with you and you didn't even stop her. Instead, you flirted back, right in front of me. Your girlfriend!"

Harry was speechless.

"I'm sick of this, Harry. You tell me you love me, but how often do you go and flirt with other girls? I see it all the time, Harry, and I don't want to be that 'other' girl."

"Bella, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you. Cho's just a friend. Please forgive me," he pleaded. "I love you."

He looked up at me through his thick eyelashes and my heart melted. His brilliant green eyes were hypnotizing me and I couldn't resist as he leant towards me.

"How about I make it up to you?" Harry suggested. "Do you want your birthday present?"

"Okay," I mumbled. Harry leant closer to me, but this time when his lips met mine, something felt wrong. I ignored it and deepened the kiss. All too soon, Harry was pulling away.

"Hold on," he whispered. He dug into his pocket and pulled out his wand, waving it at the door. I heard the lock click and I smiled. Finally, we could make out in peace. We went back to kissing and my fingers twisted in his jet-black hair while his tongue traced my lips. I added more passion into the kiss and I could almost feel him smile. Harry's hands moved down to the small of my back, grabbed the hem of my singlet top and he began to lift it up. I pulled back furiously and stared at him, shocked.

"What are you doing?"

Harry smirked at me sheepishly. "It's your birthday present."

"WellI don't want it," I snapped at him and pulled my top back down over my midriff.

"Bella..." he cooed. My heart raced as I stepped away from him.

"I love you, Bella," Harry smiled and stared into my eyes, pleading desperately. I stared straight back and suddenly his beautiful green eyes weren't so beautiful as he silently begged me to come back. He reached his hands out to me but I snatched mine away before our skin made contact.

"I love you," Harry repeated. Finally, I couldn't control my emotions anymore. They poured out of me just like the tears that started flowing down my face as I yelled at him.

"Yeah? How come you only say that when there's no one else around? What, you're too embarrassed to show your feelings? Or is it just that you don't really care? Am I just some girl that you're using for show? Some girl to kiss in front of your mates and make yourself look better. If you love me, Harry, then why do you flirt with other girls right there in front of me? You think that I'm too dumb to believe that I'm not the only girl that you kiss, the only girl that you hold hands with, the only girl you say you love. Maybe I've been kidding myself, but now I finally realize who you are."

Harry stared at me, his mouth moving soundlessly.

"Don't think that I'm stupid enough to fall for your charming ways again," I sneered, "because I won't. You'll never be able to kiss me again, hold my hand or hear me say, 'I love you.' Somewhere deep inside, I've known that the only reason you want me is so you can tell all your mates that you had sex with Bella Swan and I've been telling myself that you love me and that I keep saying no to you because I'm not ready. But I'm ready, Harry. Ready for someone who loves me for who I am, and not how I look or what I do." I finished with a huff and stared out the window, where it had started to rain.

"Bella... I _do _love you. And I'm so sorry for pushing you." Harry looked up at me through his eyelashes, just like before, but this time I felt no urge to forgive him.

"Harry..."I started softly. I took a deep breath and spoke louder. "I'm not sure if this will work anymore. You're not the person you used to be and neither am I. Every single year you come back to school, and you're different. Why is that, Harry? Why is it that every time you see your family you're more arrogant and full of yourself?

"When I first met you, you were so shy. Do you remember our second year? That kid, Colin Creevey, he was always there, trying to take photos of you and trying to get your autograph. Do you remember? You always said no and you hated attention. What's so different now? Why do you pose for photos and strut around like you _know _that everyone loves you and thinks you're a hero? It seems to me like you enjoy being the one whose parents got killed by You-Know-Who," I blurted out the last line, not thinking about Harry's reaction. It wasn't nice.

Harry stood up, his face showing terrible anger and stepped closer to me. "Bella, every single day I miss them. How could I enjoy having dead parents? Every summer I have to go home and hide from my family. Not too long ago, I was being punched by Dudley, insulted by my aunt and having to hide in bushes to escape that house. No one knows what it feels like to be treated like that. Every single year I count down the days to school because I hate Private Drive so much. Why would you say that, Bella? Voldemort killed my parents and now I have to go home to a nightmare every summer, and no-one ever understands how I feel."

"No-one?" I whispered incredulously. "You think that no-one understands how you feel, hating to go home because your parents are dead. Harry, you are so incredibly selfish."

Harry sniggered at my remark. "What's so depressing about your summers, then? You go home and get spoiled by your dad because your mum died?"

"You want to know?" I asked, my voice rising in anger. Harry just smirked. I exhaled sharply and continued. "My mother was killed ten years ago, by that disgusting Lucius Malfoy. No one ever believed my story because my dad never sided with me. He wanted me to forget about it all. Well I am _not_ going to stop until Malfoy gets what he deserves.

"Every holiday I go home to an empty house. Yeah, my father lives there but he doesn't do anything at all. He eats, drinks and sleeps, that's it. It's like my mum took his soul with her when she died. He is so empty and depressed and I have to go home each holiday and care for him. And it hurts so much to see my own father like that." More tears escaped my eyes and I struggled to keep my voice low and angry.

"Still, after ten whole years, I can hear him sobbing desperately in his sleep for my mum to come back. Still. And then when I come back to school, I see that cocky little arsehole, Draco Malfoy, nearly _every_ day, with that stupid smirk on his face. Every time I see his face, I reach into my pocket, I wrap my fingers around my wand, and then I realize that hurting him would achieve nothing at all. It wouldn't bring my mum back, it wouldn't give his father the punishment he deserves and it wouldn't help my dad go back to how he was ten years ago. He'll never be the same. I'll never see his amazing smile ever again."

Harry stared at me in silence and then he snorted and laughter escaped from his mouth. My heart twisted in rage and I pulled my wand out and shouted the first thing that came to my head.

"_Crucio_!" Harry was knocked back into the window and his head hit the glass, causing large cracks to run through it. As he lay on the floor, twitching and groaning in pain, I stared in horror at what I had done and immediately lifted the spell. Harry got to his feet, wincing and eyed me, sniggering again.

"That was pretty weak, Bella."

"Whatever, Harry. Just to let you know, in case you didn't get the hint, this is over. I am breaking up with you. Good bye." I turned to the door and flicked my wand. "_Alohomora_." As I opened the door, I felt Harry push past me out into the corridor, muttering, "Do you know where Cho is?"

I cut him off and lifted my arm behind my head. Gaining as much force as I could, I let my arm go forward and slapped him hard on the cheek. There was a loud _smack_ noise. Harry's head turned away and as he slowly came to face me again; his hand was on his cheek and his jaw hanging open.

"Fuck you, Harry Potter."

Harry grinned and whispered, "I wish," before turning and strutting down the train and into another compartment.

_Next chapter should be up Thursday or Friday. Please review :)_

_jeshika.23_


	2. Bella

I shook my head and tears started pouring down my cheeks again. I hurried past a few compartments before I realized that I had no idea where any of my friends were. I closed my eyes for a few seconds and stumbled forward into something rock hard before strong hands closed around my arms, holding me up.

"Sorry," I mumbled, keeping my head down.

"That's okay," A smooth velvet voice answered. After a few seconds, he spoke again. "Are you alright?" He asked with concern.

Damn it. He must've realized that I was crying. I swallowed and replied, "Yeah," before looking up. My first reaction was an audible gasp and then I controlled myself and quickly turned away before he noticed that I was staring. The boy holding me up had the palest skin I had ever seen, but in a way, it was beautiful. As I looked up again, my eyes raked over his sharp, angular features, his messy, bronze hair and a gorgeous crooked smile showing blindingly white teeth, before I looked deeply into his eyes. That was what scared me the most. They were green. Bright green. But much, much brighter than Harry's. They were incredible.

"Are you sure?" He asked again. I nodded silently, not trusting my voice, and walked away quickly, concentrating on finding Hermione, Ginny or even Alice or Ron. Someone stepped in front of me. Someone with flaming red hair and a confused expression on his freckled face.

"Ron!" I sighed with relief. Thank God I had found someone. I wrapped my arms around his neck without thinking, then pulled back as I realized who I was hugging. Woops.

I smiled at Ron's dumbfounded expression.

"Are you okay, Bella?" Ron asked me, alarmed. I shook my head and waited for him to put two and two together. A light bulb flashed in his eyes and he sighed. "What did he do?"

"Um..." This was awkward. I could talk to any of my friends about this, except Ron, he was a guy. I blinked and tried to explain by just using facial expressions and a few vague words. "Well, we...started kissing... and..." Ron waved his hands for me to continue, his eyes wide. I shook my head and looked away.

"Oh... Do you want... Hermione... or someone..?" He looked kind of hurt that I wouldn't tell him. I shook my head again and Ron stared at me, confused. "Do you want to talk in there?" He pointed to an empty compartment. I nodded and let Ron walk in before me. I sat down and he slid the door shut behind me. I waited for him to sit opposite me and began with my story, ignoring the blushes that tinged my cheeks every few minutes.

Suddenly, I realized that the tears were back. I closed my eyes and when I opened them Ron was at my side, leaning awkwardly over to brush them from my cheeks. I gave him a quick smile, which he returned. "Sorry, about that..." I blushed again. "I just really needed to tell someone."

Ron nodded and draped his arm over my shoulders, gently squeezing me. "That's fine, Bella. I know we haven't always been close, only really friends because of Harry, but I can see us becoming closer in the future."

I let his words sink in before I replied, "Thanks, Ron. That would be nice."

Ron slumped back into his seat. "I can't believe Harry would do that. I've kind of seen it coming but... I had always thought that you were different."

I was struck with his comment. Why was I different? I voiced my question and waited as Ron closed his eyes, trying to think of the words he could say. "He... Harry really did love you. I could see it in his eyes every time he looked at you, every time he touched you. I just can't believe that he would hurt you and... himself so much."

Ouch. That hurt. Right across my chest. How could I believe that Harry loved me when he had hurt me so much, with a big smirk on his face, as if he didn't care about me at all. I shook my head silently and thought of a way to change the topic.

"When I saw you, you looked confused... what's up?"

Ron looked away, clearly embarrassed. I watched his ears slowly turn red.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

"No, no...you told me...well..." Ron sighed loudly. "It's Hermione."

That took me by surprise. What could be so confusing about Hermione?

"She...well...I, um, kind of..." Ron blushed a deep scarlet.

I cut him off quickly before he could embarrass himself further. "You like her, don't you?" Ron nodded.

"Well, what's so confusing then?"

"When I went to find her and Ginny, she completely ignored me and started flirting with some random guys that I _know_ she hates, and then she almost yelled at Alice when she tried to grab my hand. When I asked Hermione what was wrong, she yelled at me too and then ran out of the compartment. I've never see her like that before... she was almost crying." Ron stared at the floor while he recounted his story.

I almost started laughing. Ron was so worried about this because he didn't know what was wrong with Hermione and it was right there in front of his face.

"Ron, how long have you liked Hermione?"

Ron stared at me, his cheeks blushing even darker. He mumbled something under his breath, but I couldn't understand.

"Pardon?"

"Since... third year."

I flashed him a big smile. "Well, I think it's time you asked her out then." With that, I stood up and left the compartment, leaving Ron staring at me, his mouth wide open in astonishment at my crazy mood swings.

I strolled down the corridor for a while, letting Ron's comment sink in. _Harry really did love you. I could see it in his eyes every time he looked at you, every time he touched you. _I sighed. Thinking about whether he really loved me or not wasn't the best way to get over him.

I finally found Ginny, she had been sitting in a compartment with Neville, Luna and Alice, who, when I found them, were laughing hysterically at something Luna had told them.

I furrowed my eyebrows and sat next to Ginny. "What's so funny?"

"I was walking down to see you, Bella, when I saw Harry, talking to Cho Chang," Luna began in a dreamy voice. "I spoke to Harry and he said something about you not being able to handle people asking him for photographs and things all the time."

My eyes narrowed. That arsehole.

Luna continued her story, "Well, I knew at once that he was lying and went to find you. I searched up the other end of the train but you weren't there, so I came back down. On the way back, I saw Harry again, he was still talking to Cho. I hid and used _diffindo _on her singlet top straps," Luna smiled. "Well I'm guessing you can tell what happened. Harry was staring while Cho was trying to cover herself up, and the next he knows he's being slapped on the face by her. She screamed at him to leave and as he backed through the door, he slipped and fell on his butt. Of course, everyone started laughing and he turned as red as a beetroot before running away to hide."

I snorted. "Well that's karma for you."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

Then Ginny piped up, "Do you want to tell us what happened?"

"Maybe… not now. I think I just need to get over him," I stated with realisation. Hermione suddenly swung in through the door and slumped down on the seat next to me.

"Ron?" I whispered as the others broke out in conversation. She nodded.

"I've waited for so long and I don't think he's ever going to ask me out. Especially with _her_," she nodded towards Alice, "hanging around. I've never seen him look at anyone like that."

I smiled. "I have," I replied, pretty sure that things were going to end up happily for Ron and Hermione.

She looked at me questioningly but I shook my head and interrupted the conversation between Luna, Ginny, Neville and Alice.

"Oh my God, guys. I just remembered! When I was coming to find you, I tripped-"

"As usual," Ginny put in.

I rolled my eyes and continued, "Anyway, some guy I've never seen before full on caught me. He was so sweet. He asked me if I was okay and everything. I totally blew it though. I just left him there without even saying thank you."

Alice smirked. "It looks like you've gotten over Harry."

I laughed but shook my head. "That will take a while. But this will help."

"So what did he look like?" Hermione asked eagerly, obviously realizing there was something else.

I bit my lip, trying not to smile like a complete idiot. "That's the thing. He was like _so _perfect!" I blushed as everyone in the carriage laughed at me. "No, no seriously. He had like the palest skin I have ever seen. Like yours, Alice. And the most beautiful features. His hair was an amazing bronze colour. And it was all messy. And his eyes! They were bright green! Way better than Harry's eyes," I gushed.

All the girls in the carriage nodded appreciatively while Neville just looked around as though he was desperate to escape.

Alice suddenly stopped and stared at me, her mouth slightly open. "Did he say his name?" she asked urgently.

I shook my head. "Why?"

Alice held one hand over her mouth and said, through many giggles, "By your- description, I think- I think it may have been-"

"Spit it out!" Ginny said.

"I think you're talking about my brother."

My mouth dropped open and the girls broke into fits of laughter.

Neville stood up and said, "Uh, I think I'm gonna go now…" He stepped out of the compartment and hurried off to find someone else he could sit with.

"Oh no!" I mumbled, slapping my forehead with my palm. Alice laughed at my expression and tried to console me, "It's okay. I think he's hot too."

That set off another round of giggles and when the compartment door slid open again, no-one noticed until Ron coughed, trying to get Hermione's attention. We all went silent and looked at him. Ron turned to Hermione, his ears bright red and asked if he could speak with her alone.

"Oooooh," Luna chuckled and we all stared at her. She stopped immediately and the four of us started to laugh once more.

The door opened again and I froze, staring at the most beautiful boy I had ever seen.

"Alice," he said. "Emmett wants you. Oh, hi, Luna."

Luna waved back, and my stomach twanged with jealousy. Hold on, where did that come from?

Alice stood up and smirked at me. "Edward, have you met my new friends? This is Ginny and," Alice turned to me and winked, "Bella."

Edward waved and then noticed who I was. "Oh, you're the girl who tripped before aren't you?"

I nodded, my cheeks burning.

"Are you okay? You seemed pretty upset before."

"Yeah… I'm good now. Just had a bad breakup, that's all."

Edward nodded and sat down opposite me. "Me too."

"Yeah. My boyfriend tried to have sex with me then ditched me right after for his ex."

Edward chuckled. "My girlfriend dumped me saying I wasn't man enough for her then went to go flirt with Harry Potter."

"Your girlfriend was Cho Chang?" I asked incredulously.

Edward nodded. "Do you know her?"

"Yeah," I said darkly. "My boyfriend was Harry Potter."

"Seems like you two have something in common," Ginny said through stifled giggles. She stood up and beckoned to Luna and they both exited the compartment, leaving Edward and me alone.

"What was all that about?" Edward asked me, his beautiful face puzzled.

I shrugged, trying to conceal more laughter. "Dunno." They could have been a little less obvious!

Edward chuckled, "They were trying inconspicuously to leave us alone, weren't they?"

I looked away, then back silently, still trying to hold back laughter, and shrugged.

"Girls," Edward muttered, shaking his head.

I smiled and decided to change the topic. "So… Are you in Ravenclaw as well?"

He nodded. "The three of us are all in Ravenclaw. I assume that you're in Gryffindor?"

"Yep. So is Ginny and her brother. Oh, and Hermione is too, but you probably haven't met her yet."

As if on cue, Hermione came bursting into the compartment, wearing the biggest grin I had ever seen on her face before. She froze when she saw that Edward and I were sitting alone, and turned to me, wordlessly asking if he was the boy I was talking about. I smirked, and her grin grew even wider.

"Hi, Hermione," I tried to say calmly, but a few giggles escaped anyway. "This is Edward, Alice's brother. Edward, this is Hermione Granger."

Edward stood up, like a gentleman, and shook hands with Hermione.

I poked Hermione in the shoulder and she turned back to me. "What?"

I looked at her significantly. "Did Ron..?"

I hadn't even finished the sentence before she nodded, grinning again.

"I'm right out here, you know, Bella," A voice echoed through the open door and Ron poked his head around.

I laughed and rolled my eyes. "I told you, Ron."

Ron grinned, too.

"What did you tell him?" Hermione asked curiously.

"Nothing. Oh, sorry, Edward. This is Ron Weasley, Ginny's brother."

Edward shook Ron's hand and sat back down, looking at me curiously.

Hermione glanced around at the two of us, smirking. "Well, we're just going to go find… Ginny and Luna. Bye. It was nice meeting you, Edward."

The two of them left and I turned to Edward sheepishly. "Sorry about that… some exciting stuff just happened."

"Don't worry about it, you seemed very happy for… whatever just happened," he frowned, confused. "Is your group normally so… bubbly?"

I laughed. "Only when exciting stuff happens."

I didn't know why, but I felt so comfortable around him. Normally I was awkward and shy with people I hadn't met before, but Edward was so easy to talk to. It was also like that with Alice for some reason. It didn't feel awkward at all when I asked him about his family. It sounded corny, but it felt like we were two parts of the same soul-mind that had finally found each other and connected.

I learned that Edward's brother was called Emmett, and that he had just finished his seventh year, while Alice and Edward were younger, and were in the same year as me.

I also learned that Alice's biological parents had been killed in the war, and she was really Edward and Emmett's cousin. Edward's parents, Alice's uncle and aunt, had adopted her when she was young, and had treated her like their own daughter. So Alice thought of Edward and Emmett like her two bullying brothers, and her Uncle Carlisle and Aunt Esme as her parents, and called them that.

"Enough about me and my family," Edward said at one point. "Tell me about yours."

So with that, I told him all about my dad, and how Lucius Malfoy killed my mum. Edward didn't snort with laughter like Harry had when I told him the story. Instead, Edward moved to sit next to me, and rubbed my back comfortingly when the usual tears sprang to my eyes.

After that we discussed our plans for our careers after school. Edward was planning to become a Healer, and was hoping to receive sufficient enough NEWTs to get into the Healer course he wanted to do. I told him how I hoped to become a teacher at Hogwarts. Edward asked what subject I would teach, but I wasn't really sure yet. I did like Defence Against The Dark Arts, but I also enjoyed Charms and Transfiguration.

We talked about friends, teachers, Quidditch and all the other usual topics. We seemed to talk for hours, and yet, we still were ages away from King's Cross Station. I never got bored, and I don't think Edward did either.

We approached the topic of our exes carefully.

"So, how long were you and Cho together?" I asked Edward.

Edward shrugged. "Not long. We were never really _that _close. There were no 'I love you's or anything."

I nodded, my eyes downcast.

"How about you and Harry?"

I swallowed noisily. "We were pretty close friends from first year. I think we finally got together in about… fourth year," I recalled. "It's been about two and a half years."

Edward breathed in sharply. "It must have been hard to end it."

I nodded. "I think I kind of knew it was coming, though, deep down. Our relationship wasn't like it had started out to be, and Harry was drifting from the group. He wasn't even that close to Ron anymore, and they had been best mates since they first laid eyes on each other. But it was only today, after everything happened, that I finally realized that it had to _stop._ I should've broke it off ages ago, and saved myself all this pain," I shook my head.

Edward patted my shoulder. "Sometimes it takes an argument or a bad situation to realize that you're only hanging on out of habit."

I nodded, and without thinking, I rested my head on his shoulder. _What are you doing Bella?! _I looked up in panic, but Edward just smiled and draped his arm over my shoulders. My heart bubbled with joy, making me more confused. Why, after only just breaking up with my boyfriend, am I getting excited because a boy put his arm around me?

Edward looked down, his green eyes burning into my chocolate brown ones. My breathing quickened and my heart started racing. I hadn't had this kind of reaction to a guy for a long time. Edward leaned towards me and my palms started to sweat. His lips brushed mine, and I couldn't help but kiss him back, slowly, before I realized what I was doing, and pulled away, my fingertips on my lips.

Edward winced. "I'm sorry. That was too quick. I – um," he stuttered and put a hand on his forehead. Then, to my dismay, he stood up and headed towards the door.

"No!" I reached out and grabbed his hand. He turned around and gazed at me. He looked upset, humiliated and hurt. I pulled him towards me, and he followed my lead – rather reluctantly – and sat back down next to me. Edward took a deep breath and waited patiently for what I was going to say.

"Look, Edward, this just isn't the right time. I like you-" Edward sighed, obviously not believing me. I shook my head. "No, I mean it. I'm just so _confused!_" I whined desperately. I struggled for my next words. "I mean, in this stage of – well, you know, seeing as I only broke up with Harry a few hours ago, aren't I meant to be missing him? Or somehow depressed, upset… I don't know! But I do know that I shouldn't be kissing other guys - and enjoying it - after ending a two-and-a-half-year relationship!"

The corners of Edward's lips turned up, but only for a second. He exhaled slowly before asking, "So _do_ you miss him?"

I pondered his question for a long time. I wasn't sure. "I… I'm definitely upset… But I think that's just from the things he said. I don't think I'm actually upset that the relationship has ended, I mean, I kind of knew that that was inevitable... But I'm not sure if I miss Harry or not," I told him, somewhat regretfully.

Edward looked at me, his green eyes piercing. "Well, that's something you have to work out," Edward sighed sadly. "But… until then, I'll wait for you," he told me, looking into my eyes sincerely.

My heart pounded rapidly, and I breathed a sigh of relief, my eyes flooding with tears. He was so nice. There was no way I deserved him. "Thank you," I breathed, reaching out for his hand. He took it, then lifted it to his mouth, kissing it lightly. What a gentleman!

Just at that moment, Alice barged through the door. "Ooh, what's happening here?" she teased, looking at the position of my hand slyly. I flicked it back out of Edward's grip and let it rest on my lap. Alice stared at me, telling me silently that she would hear about this later, then she shook her head as if to clear it, and declared, "Emmett wants to meet you, Bella. So does Rose."

I stood up warily, glancing at Edward who was grinning at my facial expression. Alice grabbed my hand and pulled me along the corridor, Edward keeping step behind us.

_The third and final chapter should hopefully be up Monday. Tuesday if I can't get to a computer. Please review :)_

_jeshika.23_


	3. Edward

"Who's Rose?"

Alice rolled her eyes as if to say _duh. _"Emmett's girlfriend. She's awesome. And her twin brother, Jasper… absolutely gorgeous," she added in an undertone, glancing back at her brother, who was smirking and looking away purposely.

"Right," I nodded, laughing. "You know, you are very... actually, I don't think there's a word to describe you properly."

"I know!" she squealed, pulling me into a compartment. I blinked at the scene in front of me. There seemed to be about a million people squished into one train compartment. There was Hermione, who was snuggled up quite close to Ron, then there was Ginny, Luna and Neville, squished into a corner laughing together, then across from them, there was a huge bulky guy with short curly hair holding hands with a pretty blonde girl who looked very much like the tall, blonde boy sitting next to her. Next to him were some people from Ravenclaw. I looked down at the floor and was shocked to see two more people squished together. They were two Hufflepuff students.

"Everyone this is Bella!" Alice announced excitedly. Everyone looked up and grinned. The ones I knew pulled what I assumed to be _knowing_ expressions, glancing at Edward, who was now standing behind me.

"Hi," I said nervously, waving a little.

"I'm Emmett," the big guy half-yelled, grinning widely. "This is Rosalie," – he indicated the blonde girl sitting next to him – "Jasper," – the blonde guy next to her - "Josh, Pete and Georgie," - the three Ravenclaws. Pete and Georgie were holding hands, I noticed - "and Sarah and Andrew," – the two Hufflepuffs on the floor - "I assume you know those people." He pointed to my friends. I nodded silently. Emmett grinned. "Squish in!"

I winced and squished onto the seat next to Ron, chuckling under my breath as Alice sat next to the Jasper guy. Edward sat on the floor, leaning slightly on my legs. To my astonishment, I felt goosebumps rise up on my shins.

"So, Bella… I hear it's your birthday today," Rosalie said, smiling warmly.

"Really? Why didn't you tell me?" Edward twisted around to look at me.

I shrugged. "I hate birthdays."

"What?!"

Soon enough, against my wishes, everyone was singing 'Happy Birthday' in the loudest voices possible. I put my hands over my face to hide my flaming red cheeks and tried my best to block my ears at the same time. Finally everyone stopped singing and I sat up again, still slightly red.

"Thanks, guys," I said sarcastically.

"No problem!" Emmett boomed. I grinned. Emmett Cullen made me feel just as comfortable as Edward and Alice did. I wondered if their parents would be the same.

Soon everyone was discussing something or other, and I watched Alice interact with Jasper. She was smiling joyously, and talking to him rapidly, her hands flinging around everywhere. Jasper was grinning back and nodding every so often. I could see why Alice liked him; he was extremely gorgeous and seemed nice. They looked perfect together.

I felt someone's fingers dig into my ribs and I turned to my right. Hermione was leaning past Ron - who was chatting to Sarah and Andrew about Quidditch (as usual) – with her arm stretched out towards me, waiting for me to look at her.

"What's up?"

"Are you going to tell me what happened?" Hermione glanced down at Edward, who was listening to the Quidditch conversation, oblivious to the fact that Hermione wanted to talk about him while he was sitting in front of me.

I grinned sheepishly. "Maybe."

Hermione narrowed her eyes. "Bella and I are going to go to the bathroom. We'll be back," she announced loudly. Edward looked up at me in a way I didn't like to see. How was it that he always seemed to know what I was doing?

Ginny glanced over, light bulbs flashing in her eyes. "Actually, I need to go too…"

"Me too!" Alice yelled. "Coming Rose?"

"Why don't all the girls just accompany you on your trip to the bathroom?" Edward suggested slyly.

I glared at him. Hermione smirked at me. I stepped out of the compartment blushing, followed by Hermione, Ginny, Alice, Rosalie, Luna, Sarah and Georgie, even though the latter two probably had no idea why they were coming.

"So Bella…" Alice started calmly, "WHAT HAPPENED?"

I sighed sadly. "Not much."

"But-but… but you…" Alice trailed off.

"I know, I know. I think I stuffed it up," I told them.

"Wait… what's happening?" Sarah asked.

"Well," Ginny started.

"Bella just broke up with-"

"- her jerk of a boyfriend and on her way-"

"- back to us she bumped-"

"- into my _brother-_"

"Edward?"

"Yup! Anyway, a while later he came in looking-"

"- for _moi_, so I introduced them properly-"

"- and the pair of them were in that compartment alone for an hour after I left them there," Hermione finished, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.

"It was only an hour?!" I asked, completely shocked.

"_Only _an hour?" Georgie joined in the eyebrow wiggling.

"We were just talking!"

"So why was he kissing your hand when I came in?"

"Oh, because he kissed me and I blew him off!" I blurted out unthinkingly.

Silence followed my statement. Then came what seemed like one hundred "WHY?!"s.

"Because it was too fast," I said miserably. "And he went to leave but I pulled him back and told him that I really liked him but… I just couldn't… you know? And then he asked me if I missed Harry or not and I… couldn't answer him. I'm so confused!"

"Aw, Bellaboo," Ginny said, using her old nickname for me. She reached over and gave me a hug.

"So… what did he say?" Rosalie asked cautiously.

"He said that he would wait for me-" There was a loud chorus of "Aww," but I cut everyone off. "I don't know though… Why would he want to wait for _me_? I could take ages to get over Harry… I can't believe that he will wait… I would just be giving myself false hope," I finished sadly.

Alice and Rosalie both shook their heads furiously. Rosalie said, "When Edward says something like that, he means it."

"Yeah," Alice agreed. "You definitely won't be giving yourself false hope. I know him, and he _will _wait."

A bubble rose up in my chest, and I smiled happily. Then I frowned. "I just don't get it, though! We've only known each other for a few hours and he's willing to _wait _for me? Especially him! He's so..." I trailed off, staring dreamily into space.

"Look, Bella," Alice said seriously. "I've known Edward all my life and I've never seen him act this way around a girl. I know it hasn't been very long, but there is obviously something about you that has got him really caught up and it's definitely _not _a bounce-back from his ex." She pulled a disgusted face at the mention of Cho Chang. "Stop putting yourself down and just enjoy it. Clearly-" she looked around at everyone with a grin I did not like to see, "- you're caught up on him as well. I can understand about Harry, but you have to just let yourself go and not worry about the way Edward is feeling, because you can just see from the way he looks at you that is completely and utterly under whatever spell you've cast on him."

Hermione turned to me with one eyebrow raised. "You haven't actually cast a spell on him, have you?"

My eyes narrowed playfully and I hit her on the arm. "No, of course not! Are you saying that I have to use _magic _to get someone to like me?"

"No! I just-"

"What are you saying, then, Hermione?" I asked, pretending to be offended.

"Nothing! I just meant that, you know, he just-" she fumbled her way through her sentence, her hands moving about in crazy directions, trying to portray exactly what she meant,

I started laughing and the other girls joined in, leaving Hermione pouting by herself with her arms crossed. "Aw, Hermione, I'm sorry," I chuckled, patting her on the head. She rolled her eyes and the group started to return to the compartment when we were almost run over by the trolley lady.

"Anything off the trolley, dears?" she asked, repeating her usual line. I randomly wondered whether she ever got bored of saying that.

"Um, can I grab a box of Bertie Bott's?"

"Two pumpkin pasties, please."

"Hmm… a packet of… Droobles and a frog, thanks."

The different orders dragged on for a while, and when we finally got back to our train compartment, we found the boys already digging into their sweets. "Oh, I got Merlin _again,_" moaned Emmett, who had just opened one of his many chocolate frogs. "I hate Merlin!"

"I love Merlin!" I exclaimed randomly, catching everyone's attention. I glanced around, noticing everyone's gaze on me and Edward's raised eyebrows that sent my heart into flutters. "What?!"

"And you think I'm strange," said Luna dreamily as she sank onto the floor next to Andrew, who nervously shuffled closer towards Sarah.

I chuckled and started to follow Hermione onto the seat next to Ron, but got my foot caught around Ginny's ankle and tumbled straight onto Edward. The laughter of the group echoed in my ears as I blushed scarlet and tried to get up but fell back down again as the train swayed sideways. "I'm so sorry!" I whispered to Edward in humiliation. Without meeting his eyes, I tried to stand up _again_, but this time was pulled down onto his lap.

"I think it would be safer if you stayed down here," Edward muttered cheekily.

I huffed. My cheeks felt like they were on fire. Unfortunately, when I looked up to glare at Ginny, I found Emmett wiggling his eyebrows at the pair of us, which amazingly made my cheeks burn further. I cringed from all of the unwanted attention. Edward noticed my facial expression – I wasn't quite sure how as he was behind me – and rubbed my arm comfortingly, leaving a trail of goosebumps behind.

I twisted my head to see him looking down at my arm in astonishment.

"Are you cold?" he asked worriedly, as conversation restarted in the compartment. I shook my head, my fading blush returning just a fraction.

He raised his eyebrows again and chuckled, shaking his head.

"What?" I asked.

He continued to shake his head as if he was deep in thought. "You're just… I don't know… I can't describe you," he finished regretfully.

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"

Edward chuckled again. "I have no clue."

The train rounded a bend and I heard a sad sigh from behind me. I twisted around to face Alice. "What's up?" I asked.

She looked down at me sadly. "We're here."

Just as she finished speaking, I felt the slight decrease in the train's speed, which grew slower and slower until finally coming to a halt.

"Aww," came the chorus of the gloomy Hogwarts students sitting in our compartment. I stood up slowly, and grabbed Edward's hand who stood up after me. We were walking out into the corridor hand-in-hand, when I heard a terribly familiar voice say from behind me, "Bella, wait!"

I froze and turned around, meeting eyes with Harry Potter. He was pleading with me. "Please, don't go yet. I need to talk to you," he begged.

I heard Edward growl angrily from beside me. "Bella…" he said softly, tugging on my hand.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, trying to control the feelings of hate that were threatening to break free. "What do you want?" I asked Harry, my voice dripping with venom.

"Please… I'm so sorry. I love you," he pleaded. I froze for the second time, waiting for the pain in my chest to make itself known. It didn't. I exhaled sharply, trying to comprehend the fact that I wasn't feeling anything for the boy who had just told me he loved me. I smiled in relief and glanced at Edward who was watching me sadly. I felt his hand drop out of mine as he turned to get off the train. That was when my heart started to hurt. And that was when I realized that I had no need for Harry at all anymore, and Edward was the one I needed in my life.

"Edward!" I cried. He turned around, looking at me tiredly. "Wait!"

"Why?" he asked miserably. "And please don't feed me some story about how you like me but you need to-"

"Shh!" I cut him off anxiously, realizing that he thought I was smiling because I wanted to take Harry back. I sucked up all of my courage and turned my back on Harry. Then I kissed Edward on the cheek and whispered in his ear, "I don't want him… I want _you_."

Edward looked at me disbelievingly. "Really?"

I nodded. Then he smiled and grabbed my hand, leading me off the train, leaving Harry standing alone and completely gobsmacked.

"Bella!" Alice yelled when I stepped out. "You _have _to come to my house over the holidays! As soon as possible!"

I grinned. "Oh, I don't think that will be a problem." I glanced at Edward who was smiling happily.

"Yeah?" said Alice, with a slight wiggle of the eyebrow.

"Hey, Alice!" Jasper announced his arrival. "Can I speak with you for a sec?"

"Sure," Alice said, trying to be casual. As soon as Jasper turned away to find a more private spot, Alice looked at me and silently squealed, then did a little victory dance.

"Alice?" Jasper called out, standing a few metres away and watching Alice dance with his lips pressed together tightly as though he was trying not to laugh.

"Woops," Alice whispered, before skipping off towards him.

I walked with Edward to grab my trunk and headed to where Emmett, Rose, Andrew, Sarah, Pete, Georgie, Josh, Ginny, Luna, Hermione and Ron were gathered near the barrier that led into the muggle world.

"Finally," Hermione said when we got there, rolling her eyes.

"Shut it, you," I replied, grinning.

"What's happening?" Edward asked.

"Party at mine next week!" Sarah said excitedly. "I'm turning 17!"

"Awesome… can't wait," Ginny said.

"I'll send you all an owl when I get home with the invitations."

Edward looked at me out of the corner of his eye. "Hmm… I think I'll need a date," he said casually. "Who do you think I should ask?"

"Hmm, that's tough," I said thoughtfully, pretending to frown. "I think Bella Swan needs a date. Why don't you ask her? I'm sure she'll say yes."

Edward laughed at me and wrapped his arm around my waist. "Would you like to be my date for Sarah's party?" he breathed in my ear, sending shivers running down my spine.

I grinned. "I'll be your date anytime."

_The End! I hope you enjoyed it! Please review :D_

_jeshika.23_


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